Sports

History: Samuel Peter, The Last Thoroughbred Nigerian To Lift WBC Title

Very many Nigerians feel a sense of kinship with Anthony Joshua, the current IBO, WBO, WBA and IBF champion. Although born to Nigerian parents, A.J, at best, has been dubbed British by global media or British-Nigerian at best, which could very well leave Samuel Peter the last thoroughbred Nigerian to lift a heavyweight boxing title.

Renowned in his prime for his rivalry against the Klitschko brothers, Vitali and Wladimir, Samuel Peter suddenly plunged into oblivion after rising to the top of the ladder, during which he claimed the WBC title by stopping Oleg Maskaev in six rounds.

Despite enduring a rough breakthrough to the limelight, like most African talents, Peter quickly rose to become one of the most promising prospects in the heavyweight division.

Following his rise to prominence, on 24 September 2005, he faced Wladimir Klitschko in an elimination match in Atlantic City for the IBF title, in which Peter’s WBC-NABF title was also on the line. Coming into the bout, Klitschko was viewed by many as the underdog against the 7-to-5 favourite Peter who had won all of his 24 fights, with 21 of them having ended inside the distance.

At the time, Samuel Peter was considered one of the brightest prospects in the heavyweight division. Distinguished boxing coaches Angelo Dundee and Teddy Atlas expected Peter to win. Wladimir’s team, including his brother Vitali, were worried about Wladimir and were against this fight to happen.

Wladimir, however, insisted on fighting Peter, claiming that beating a feared, hard-hitting fighter like Samuel Peter would help him to regain his stock and become a mandatory challenger for two heavyweight belts.

Despite fighting valiantly and dropping Wladimir three times on the canvass, Peter eventually lost the fight after going the distance, in a unanimous 114-111 decision.
The following year, Peter fought with heavyweight contender James Toney on 2 September 2006 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles for the right to challenge WBC heavyweight champion Oleg Maskaev. Peter would win by a split decision; however, the WBC would find adequate cause to order a rematch.

For this fight against Toney, Manny Masson was brought in to train Peter.

On January 6, 2007, Peter defeated Toney in the rematch by unanimous decision (UD). The official judges’ scorecards read 119–108, 118–110, 118–110.

By 2008, Peter had risen to the top of the food chain, dropping Oleg Maskaev in six rounds to win the coveted WBC title for the first time.

Following his victory over Maskaev, he publicly challenged IBF, WBO and IBO champion Wladimir Klitschko to a unification bout, which would have been Klitschko’s second such fight, as well as his second matchup with Peter (the first ending with a unanimous decision victory for Klitschko).

Peter fought Klitschko on October 11, 2008, in Berlin. Klitschko had a memorable ring entrance with five former heavyweight champions appearing to wish him luck in his comeback. Klitschko would reclaim his belt in dominating fashion.

Although he was coming back from a four-year layoff, Klitschko was sharp from the opening bell. Peter had been expected to set the pace and pursue Vitali. Instead, he spent time outside trying to box his way in. Klitschko took the centre of the ring and found Peter an easy target. Peter landed two hard right hands in the second round, but they had almost no effect on Vitali at all. After four rounds Peter’s face was swelling and his corner was growing in frustration.

The defeat sent Peter’s career into a tailspin he was never able to recover from. Consequently, the former ‘Nigerian nightmare’ was elected to quit the sport but made sporadic unsuccessful returns. In December 2019, on the same night Anthony Joshua regained his WBA, IBF, IBO and WBO titles from Andy Ruiz Jr, Samuel Peter suffered an inglorious first-round defeat against Arslanbek Makhmudov in Montreal. The defeat drew widespread criticism from many Nigerians who called on the former heavyweight champion to hang his gloves for good.

While Peter’s twilight years may have been monumentally regrettable Eko Hot Blog History remembers the 40-year-old man today as the last thoroughbred to rise to the majestic heights of the sport.

Ronny Ikpoto

Edidiong-Ronny Ikpoto holds a First Class degree in Media Studies. He shares a healthy enthusiasm for journalism, social & literary criticism, and creative writing.